Holder for shoe-uppers.



a O 9 1 9 1 0 E D D E T N E T M a R E P U S E M0 3% R m E E D L O H 0w 2 8 0 8 0 N APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1904. RENEWED JULY 22.1905.

awuowbon UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TO ELLIS LAOER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

HOLDER FOR SHOE-UPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed May 26, 1904. Renewed July 22,1905. Serial No. 270,896.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, WARREN EUGENE EL- LIs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Holders for Shoe -Uppers, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of shoes it has been a common practice to tie the stitched uppers in bundles, each of'which contains as many uppers of a given size as are intended for one case of shoes, enough of these bundles to make up one case of shoes being eventually collected and passed on to the lasters.

My invention is intended to provide an improved device by means of which all the uppers required for making up a case of shoes may be conveniently assembled, transported to the lasters, and used as desired without danger of mixing the sizes and without involving the consumption of twine, which is necessary when the uppers are tied up in bunches.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the base portion of the device. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line a: as in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line y 'y in Fig. 3.

My upper-holder, as illustrated, comprises a suitable number of upright rods 2, disposed around a central rod 3, a base-piece 4, to

which all these rods are attached, and means for detachably connecting the upper end of each of the rods 2 with the central rod 3. In the holder illustrated in Fig. 1 four of the rods 2 are employed, this being a convenient number for the desired purpose, and each of these rods is bent at its lower end to provide a horizontal portion 5, the inner end of which is secured to the base 4, so that the rods 2 are separated from one another and from the central rod 3 by a sufficient distance to enable a bunch of uppers to be passed over the upper end of any one of the rods 2 and suspended therefrom, as shown in dotted lines at 6 in Fig. 1.

The base 4 preferably consists of a cylindrical plug having its upper end provided with radial grooves 7, corresponding in number to the rods 2, each groove being adapted to receive one of the horizontal portions 5. Said base-piece is also provided at the inner end of each groove 7 with a vertical recess 8, adapted to receive the downwardly-turned free end 9 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3) of the corresponding horizontal portion 5, the arrangement of these recesses being such that when the rods 2 and base 4 are assembled therewill still remain suflicient space between the downwardly-turned free ends 9 to receive the lower end of the central rod 3, which enters said space with a driving fit, and thereby wedges the ends of the portions 5 in place, thus uniting the parts into a rigid structure. The grooves 7 prevent the rods 2 from moving laterally, and thus maintain them in proper relative position.

As a means for detachably connecting the upper end of each rod 2 with the central rod 3, I provide said central rod with a loop 10, and to said loop I hinge a number of links 1 1, one for each rod 2. At its opposite end each link 11 is provided with a hook 12, adapted to detachably engage an eye 13, formed at the upper end of the corresponding rod 2, so that any one of the rods 2 may be connected with or disconnected from the loop 10, independ-- ently of the others. Each hook 12 is preferably hinged loosely to its link 1 1, the free end of the hook being bent laterally, as shown, to

provide a projection 14, which serves to prevent accidental disengagement of the hook from its eye 13. These eyes 13 provide rounded extremities for the rods 2, which pre vent the uppers from catching on the ends of said rods or being injured thereby when applied or removed.

In use the links 11 are all disconnected from the corresponding rods 2 and allowed to hang freely from the loop 10, and as fast as the uppers are stitched they are passed over the free upper ends of the rods 2, each rod being devoted to one size of upper, until a sufficient number of uppers have thus been collected. As fast as the rods 2 are filled with uppers they are connected with the loop 10 by means of the linksll and hooks 12, thus keeping the piles of uppers separate and preventing any misplacement or loss of the same,

and the filled holder is then carried to the lasters, who unhook the links 11 and remove the uppers as fast as the latter are required for lasting.

The rod 3 is preferably provided at its upper end with a hook 15, by means of which the holder may be suspended from a suitable support when desired, and the base-piece 4 may also be inserted into a hole or socket formed in a bench or the like for the purpose of maintaining the holder in a vertical position while the uppers are being applied or removed.

It will be evident that my holder may be used for detachably holding various articles other than shoe-uppers, and the construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated may be considerably varied without departing from my invention. For example, more or less than four of the rods 2 may be employed, and the links 11 and hooks 12 may be replaced by other devices for the same purpose, or they may be omitted entirely in some instances.

I claim as my invention 1. A device of the character described, comprising a plurality of upright rods and a central rod, said rods being connected together at their lower ends, and means for detachably connecting the central rod with the upper portion of each of the other rods.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece, a central rod extending upward therefrom, a plurality of upright rods each having at its lower end an inwardly-extending portion connected to said base-piece, and means for detachably connecting the central rod with the upper portion of each of said upright rods.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece provided at its upper end with a plurality of radial grooves and with a downwardly-extending recess at the inner end of each groove, and a plurality of upright rods each provided at its lower end with an inwardly-extending portion located in one of said grooves and having a downwardly-turned free end held in the corre sponding recess.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece having radial grooves in its upper end, a plurality of upright rods each having at its lower end an inwardly-extending portion held in one of said grooves, a central rod secured at its lower end to said base-piece, and means for detachably connecting said central rod with the upper portion of each of the upright rods.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece provided at its upper end with a plurality of radial grooves and with a downwardly-extending recess at the inner end of each groove, a plurality of upright rods each having at its lower end an inwardly-extending portion held in one of said grooves and turned downward at its free end to enter the correspondin recess, a central rod having its lower end held between said downwardly turned ends by a driving fit, and means for detachably connecting said central rod with the upper portion of each of the upright rods.

6. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece, a central rod extending upward therefrom, a plurality of upright rods 2 carried by said base-piece and each having an eye at its free upper end, and means for detachably connecting said central-rod with each of the rods 2, consisting of links each hinged at one end to the central rod and provided at its other end with an eye-engaging hook.

7. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece, a central rod extending upward therefrom, a plurality of upright rods 2 carried by said base-piece and each having an eye at its free upper end, and means for detachably connecting said central rod with each of the rods 2, consisting of links each hinged at one end to the central rod and at its other end to an eye-engaging hook having a laterally-turned free end.

8. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece, a central rod extending upward therefrom, said rod being pro vided at its upper end with a hook and below said hook with a loop, a plurality of upright rods 2 carried by said base-piece and each having an eye at its free upper end, and a corresponding number of links each hinged at one end to said loop and at its other end to e an eye engaging hook having a laterallyturned free end.

9. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece, a plurality of rods extending upward therefrom, one of said rods being provided at its upper end with means for suspending the device, and links for detachably connectin the latter rod with the upper portion of eac of r the other rods, independently of one another.

10. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece, a central rod and a plurality of other rods carried by the basepiece, said central rod being provided with means for suspending the device, and links carried by the central rod for detachably connecting the same with each of the other rods, independently of one another.

11. A device of the character described, comprising a base-piece and a plurality of rods extending upward therefrom, one of said rods being provided at its upper end with a hook and below said hook with a number of links each provided at its free end with means for detachably engaging one of the other rods. v

12. A device of the character described,

comprising a base-piece, a plurality of rods In testimony whereof I have hereunto subextending upward therefrom, one of said rods scribed my name this 1 1th day of May, 1904.

being provided at its up er end with a hook and below said hook witl l a loop, and a num- WARREN EUGENE ELLIS ber of links each carried at one end by said Witnesses: loop and formed at its free end to detachably E. D. OHADWIOK, engage one of the other rods. JOSEPH T. BRENNAN. 

